New 'WDIY Conversations' series gets personal

Jimmy Meyer and Steve Brosky will be interviewed by Mike Space on Sunday… (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO )

August 02, 2012|By Tim Higgins, Special to The Morning Call

Conversations are very personal things and that's exactly what ArtsQuest is after with a new series that allows music fans to get personal with local musicians and songwriters during Musikfest.

"WDIY Conversations" is a series of live one-on-one interviews with regional singer songwriters beginning today in the new indoor home of Lyrikplatz at the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema in the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. Audiences will get an intimate look at the art and inspiration behind the musicians creating everything from blues and rock to country, soul and more.

The interviews will be by radio hosts from Bethlehem public radio station WDIY, media sponsors of Lyrikplatz, which features short sets by several singer songwriters every night. The series kicks off with WDIY executive director Bill Dautremont-Smith interviewing Zen for Primates guitarist Mike Krisukas.

"Basically it's an expanded radio interview on stage with musicians and singer-songwriters," says Dautremont-Smith. He adds: "This is the first year we're doing them so we're leaving it pretty loose."

Each event will be 40 minutes long. The format, says Dautremont-Smith, is simple. "There will be some discussion, some performance and then some more discussion," Dautremont-Smith says. "Really, it depends a bit on the artist. Many of the artists are Lehigh Valley based, but haven't necessarily been here all of their lives … so it's a chance for people to get to know them."

"We'll have discussions on being a musician or singer songwriter as well performing and promoting their latest recording."

Conversations will be every day at 7 p.m. Among the artists who will talk about their songwriting are Sarah Ayers, Brosky and Meyer, XVSK and Billy Bauer.

These interviews are for the benefit of a live audience only. As of now they are not scheduled to be broadcast.

However, Patrick Brogan, ArtsQuest Vice President of Performing Arts, says recordings will be made. "You never know what gems may come out of them."

The series was Brogan's idea, who approached WDIY.

"For years we've been doing different things to get a unique perspective on the festival experience," says Brogan. "We have these great cinemas, and we thought it would be great to do a kind of 'conversation-with' type of venue there."

The intent is also to get some audience participation from Musikfest-goers, as the interview and performances will be followed by a Q-and-A session.